Alignment

Definition: One of the principles of design, alignment refers to lining up the top, bottom, sides, or middle of text or graphic elements on a page.

Horizontal alignment includes (see illustration): flush-left (also called left-justified or ragged right), flush-right (also called right-justified or ragged left), centered, and fully justified.

With vertical alignment elements can be aligned vertically -- top, bottom, or middle (center), for example. Baseline alignment would be aligning text to the baseline, including adjacent columns of text.

The use of grids and guides can aid in placement and alignment of both text and graphics.

Full justification of text (fully justified alignment) can create uneven and sometimes unsightly white spaces and rivers of white space in the text. When forced justification is used, if the last line is less than 3/4 of the column width the extra space added between words or letters is especially noticeable and unattractive.

Consider using flush-left alignment. If full justification is necessary, careful attention and minute adjustments to line or column widths, changing the font size of entire document, and adjusting hyphenation can make word and character spacing more consistent.

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Offset vs. Desktop Printing

The method of printing — whether offset or desktop printing — dictates how the desktop publishing document must be prepared. That's why answers to questions about what kind of software to use or how to set up a document begin with "how will it be printed?"

Answer: The three primary differences in offset printing and desktop printing (such as inkjet and laser) are the colors of ink and the way the ink is placed on the paper as well as the type of machinery used to accomplish the task. Both commercial offset printing (also known as offset lithography) and inkjet desktop printing utilize four basic ink colors: CMYK. Dots of cyan (blue), magenta (red), yellow, and black (the K) are placed next to each other in specific patterns that trick the eye into seeing millions of colors. Additionally, offset printing can use premixed inks in a variety of specific colors as well as metallic and florescent inks. These are called spot colors. However, printing white ink is not usually a viable option for offset or desktop printing. Inkjet printing puts all the different ink colors on the paper in one pass through the printer. In commercial offset printing each color of ink is applied separately. Because the paper must pass through the printing press multiple times, there are special requirements for preparing digital files for color printing. Desktop printing usually uses some type of inkjet or laser printer. The inkjet printer has ink cartridges that places the ink directly on the paper. These are self-contained units connected to a computer through cables. Offset lithography uses a web or sheet press that may consist of multiple units. Photographic printing plates are made of the file to be printed. The plates accept the ink which is then transferred to the paper. In choosing desktop publishing software one of the key considerations is determining how you will print your material. Some lower end or consumer desktop publishing applications cannot produce the type of files needed for commercial offset printing. Even when using software capable of creating the required files, non-designers may not understand how to properly create files for commercial offset printing.

Although there are many specific considerations for preparing files for offset printing, in terms of ink colors and the printing process two of the main software and file preparation considerations are the use of CMYK graphics and separations. CMYK vs. RGB
Graphics generally use RGB (Red, Green, Blue) or CMYK colors. Graphics on the Web or designed for on-screen display are RGB images. Because offset printing utilitizes CMYK inks, all full-color graphics need to be saved with CMYK colors. This simple conversion is done in your graphics software program. Separations
Whether printing in CMYK inks or spot colors, for offset printing you must supply a file that can be separated into different files for each ink color. These separations contain only the elements of the document that will print in one color of ink. The printing plates for offset printing are made from these separations. Also see: What's the difference between a commercial printer and a desktop printer?

All the FAQs: Career & Business | Software | Design & Layout | Graphics | Type & Fonts | Prepress & Printing

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Color Separations

On a printing press each color of ink used in a document is printed one at a time. Each printing plate used on the press is made up only of components of the page in that one color.

Separations are artwork split into component plates of cyan, magenta, yellow, and black in preparation for process printing (CMYK) or into the required number of plates for spot color printing - a plate for each color of ink.

Each separation prints a single process or spot color. Digital PostScript or PDF files take two primary forms: composite or pre-separated. Which you use depends on your software, colors, and the software or RIP your printer or service bureau uses.

Pre-Separated
A pre-separated PDF or PostScript file contains a separate plate for each color in the document. A standard process color job would have four plates (pages) containing just the color information for each color of CMYK. For spot colors, you'll have a page for each spot color.

You'll have separations for each page in your document so a 4 page CMYK preseparated file would have 16 pages. If you have a preseparated file you can only print the file as separations and on-screen viewing is limited to viewing each individual color plate.

Composite
A composite file contains all the color information in one file. It can be viewed or printed as a composite (everything on one page). Your service bureau separates the file into its individual color separations at the RIP.

Choosing Sides
Which type of file — composite or pre-separated — does your printer need from you? Ask. That's the best way to know for sure. Each has its benefits. It's probably obvious that a composite file will be more compact than a preseparated file — fewer pages. With composite files both you and your service bureau can view the document on-screen and check things like graphics, text flow, etc. more easily.

However, there are some types of documents that require pre-separated files for proper handling. At present, composite files don't contain the necessary information to properly generate separations for EPS duotones, DCS images, colorized TIFFs, and images with spot-color-to-spot-color gradients. These will require pre-separated PostScript or PDF files. Check with your printer if you are unsure.

Even when supplying a composite PostScript or PDF to your printer, you'll want to know how to create and print color separations to your own printer for proofing purposes. This will help you see if your composite file will separate correctly (all colors on the correct plates, no extra colors) and help you catch other mistakes that might not be apparent looking at the application file or the composite file.

This is a brief overview of composite and pre-separated files — just one aspect of creating color separations. For more in-depth technical specifications and tutorials as well as advice on proper preparation of separations in a variety of programs, see the sidebar resources.

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